Cinquefoil
by Tobirion
Summary: If two is company and three's a crowd, what on Gaia is five?  A collection of unrelated ASGZC oneshots and drabbles.
1. Lifeguarding ZC

**Yay! Here's the first of many short oneshot-y things. This collection is gonna be all the little ideas I have that may not be long/ super enough to become their own amazing oneshots, but things I think are cute enough to share with the masses. XD Expect lots of updates. This is also here so I won't get writers block and not update anyyything for months on end.  
**

**Not everything will be ASGZC-some oneshots will be SephCloud, others AngealZack, or GenZackCloud, or AngealGenesisSephiroth, _anything. _Most have a prompt and a pairing. For example, this chapter is:**

**Cloud is a lifeguard at the community pool, and there's this one idiot who keeps pretending to drown so Cloud will jump in and save him...**** Zack/Cloud**

**Feel free to request! And enjoy! :) **

* * *

Quick quick quick, tap tap. Maybe a bit of a slap every now and then.

It wasn't like there was anything _else _to do up here (that is, other than actually do his job). Cloud tapped the upper parts of his fingers and the heels of his hands against the exposed skin of his thighs in some sort of beat absently, listening to the screams and excited chatter of children.

Fuck, it was hot. The whole past week it had been well over a hundred degrees outside. There was an umbrella at the top of his lifeguard tower, which gave him a little shade, but the air itself was almost unbearable. Air conditioning—he missed it. It needed to rain, and soon.

Eventually Cloud realized that the tops of his thighs were perhaps a bit too hot and reached backwards to grab the tube of sunscreen he had put there earlier. His eyes flicked over the groups of people in his section of the pool as he rubbed the sunscreen into his legs and arms. He smiled at couple of girls walking by as he applied it to his chest—they giggled when he pushed a finger into his bellybutton. They continued, Cloud got his neck and shoulders, and life continued as it always did. Lifeguarding. Majorly fun stuff.

A short distance away sat Kunsel, telling some kids that no, they couldn't stand on each others' shoulders. The poor guy had to watch over the shallow end, teeming with little brats for—Cloud checked his phone—about twenty more minutes.

The silver whistle around Cloud's neck ran out shrilly in the hot air. "You can't eat in the pool ma'am," he said cordially to a woman who was about to get into the pool with a bag of chips.

"Are you talking to me?" she said, looking left and right.

_No, I'm talking to the invisible person next to you. _"Yes. No food in the pool, please. There's designated eating areas." He pointed. The woman walked off like he had insulted her personally. Some people. With a sigh Cloud leant back against his seat, squinting up at the sky. No clouds. It needed to rain—it was far too hot.

Back to watching the people. Cloud's stomach growled, and he frowned. _Hot_.

The water looked inviting. What he wouldn't give to dunk himself for a second or two... Cloud eyed the cheeseburger Luxiere was happily eating as he walked by, on his lunch break. Hm.

His hands started tapping again. _Can't someone just drown already? I'm melting._

Cloud stopped his tapping and froze. Almost directly beneath his tower was someone floating on their stomach. Maybe. People did that all the time, pretending to be drowned victims for a few seconds, then coming up and laughing with their friends after they had scared a lifeguard half to death (Tifa had had a particularly unfortunate experience with this).

He waited, for just a few seconds. The man wasn't moving.

Cloud blew his whistle furiously, three short bursts, gesturing to Sephiroth, who was closest. He seized the rescue tube from its place beside him and jumped down, concrete burning hot on his bare feet; he ignored it. He jumped into the pool.

It had been quite some time since there had been an incident at Shin-Ra Pool, and never had a victim been unconscious in the water. Fuck.

Cloud reached the man. He was probably around his age, fit, looking scarily useless as he floated. His bathing suit had big sunflowers on it. Enough observations. Cloud placed the tube between his chest and the victim's shoulders, then carefully rolled him face up, being careful of his neck. Did this guy hit himself? Get a cramp? What? Black hair was sticking to the front of his face; Cloud swiped it all away with one hand as he kicked powerfully, towing him to the shallows.

Kunsel helped him carefully remove the man from the water. They laid him flat on the hard, hot ground, and Cloud quickly knelt by his neck and shoulders.

"Sephiroth's called for an ambulance," Kunsel said, voice slightly shaky. Cloud nodded.

He shook the man's shoulder and said loudly, almost a yell, "_Are you okay_?" As expected, no answer. Dammit. _Alright, ABC's!_ _Simple enough!_

_Airway. _Cloud gently tilted his chin forward and his head back. He ducked, pressing his cheek almost to the other's mouth. Not breathing.

Then, he took a second or two to compose himself. _Breathing_. He pinched the man's nose shut and pressed their mouths together tightly and breathed out, a strong burst, just for a second. The man's chest rose. That was good. Cloud breathed out again, trying to block out the sounds of scared poolgoers commentating.

_Circulation_. Cloud finished his second breath, swung a knee over the man's torso for better leverage—even though he wasn't really supposed to—and began the chest compressions. It was twenty—no, thirty for every two breaths. Right?

_Calm down, Cloud. He'll be okay. Don't panic._

Cloud drove the heels of his hands, one on top of the other, straight down. After reaching thirty he reached for the man's face again, doing two more breaths. His spit clung between their mouths in a long strip, messy and probably over both their chins. He had to do what he had to do, though, messy or not.

After just a few compressions this time the man began coughing, eyes flying open. He flailed, one arm hooking over Cloud's shoulders and the other pushing him up, onto his side. He coughed some more, water pouring out of his mouth, before sinking back down, staring at Cloud with half-closed, exhausted, glazed eyes. Cloud panted a few inches above the other and gasped, "You alright?"

The man stared at him for a few seconds before his question sunk in. "...Perfect," he said hoarsely, arm falling off Cloud's back to the ground.

Cloud looked up at Genesis and Sephiroth who were running towards them, followed by paramedics. "I'm Zack, by the way," the man said, grinning weakly.

Zack's hand was given a quick squeeze and Cloud moved away, backing up as the paramedics closed in. They all watched as Zack was strapped onto an LSB and wheeled away.

Cloud sagged as soon as the sound of the ambulance's alarm faded into the distance. He felt Angeal's arm come around him; he leaned against his friend and laughed weakly when Angeal clapped him on the back. "Good job," he told him. Everyone else agreed.

Genesis let Cloud have his lunch break early, praising his quick thinking. Kunsel bought his lunch and ate with him, politely ignoring the way his fingers trembled as his adrenaline left him.

"I never want to do that again," Cloud said darkly, shoving a french fry into his mouth. Kunsel laughed, patted his elbow, and went back to texting someone some new blackmail about someone else he had discovered.

The next day Cloud lounged in his tower, not tapping but twisting, playing with the string of his whistle. It was just as hot, just as grossly sticky. He wiped his sweaty upper lip and fanned himself with a piece of paper. This time he was stationed near the slides. Soon he'd be at the kiddie pool. Cringe.

He was still getting pats on the back and stuff from the others for his efforts the previous day. He had heard that Zack had been just fine, and had gone home in just a few hours. Just the thought—He had saved a life—made him grin uncontrollably. It was an awesome feeling.

"Hey!"

Cloud turned and peered over his rescue buoy, at a man standing a few feet away, on the ground. He realized it was the guy from yesterday, and smiled. "Try not to die today, please."

Zack grinned and walked around to the front of the huge elevated chair, folding his arms on the platform and looked up at him. "Thanks a lot, for everything."

"I was just doing my job," Cloud countered, somewhat bashfully.

"You do it well. Really well."

"Uh, thanks." Cloud looked away from Zack and blew his whistle. "You can't go down the slide backwards," he chastised some elementary-school kid. "Only sitting, and face first. Alright?"

The kid scowled and climbed up the ladder, out of the pool, then darted for the line at the slides again. "No running!" Cloud hollered, and the kid settled for a fast walk.

He looked back at his companion, to find Zack still in the same position, still grinning. "When did you become a lifeguard?" He asked. He brushed his hair out of his eyes, looking genuinely interested. He was a good-looking guy, Cloud noticed. Crazily spiky black hair, happy blue eyes. He hadn't had the time to really observe yesterday. He wasn't dressed in a bathing suit; he had probably just stopped by to thank him.

"Hm... it was in tenth grade that I took the class to become certified," he answered, biting on the string of his whistle as he thought. "Next year is my second year of college."

Zack smiled again (did he ever stop?). "Me too." He clapped both hands on the wood of the tower, right next to Cloud's toes and stepped away. "That's cool." He raised a hand and wiggled his fingers. "See you around?"

"Yup. I'm glad you're alright—I was almost worried there, for a minute."

Zack laughed, wide mouth splitting into a toothy smile. "Me too. See you...uh..."

"Cloud."

"See you, Cloud." Zack left with one last grin. Cloud watched him walk out, then went back to surveying the two ancient slides.

At the end of the day Genesis asked suspiciously, "Who were you talking to earlier?"

Cloud was quick to explain, knowing his boss, while laid-back and super nice to all his employees, hated it when his lifeguards slacked off or didn't pay attention to their job.

"Did you find out why he drowned?" Genesis quizzed him, as they locked up and walked towards their cars.

"Nah, I didn't ask."

"Oh well. See you tomorrow." Genesis bumped his shoulder with his fist and got into his car, peeling away and pulling on his seatbelt at the same time. Cloud sighed in amusement, knowing he should probably be more afraid of Sephiroth's driving than Genesis's, and got into his own car.

That night, as Cloud ate dinner with his family, he thought back to what had happened right before the whole incident. _Can't someone just drown already? I'm melting, _he had thought. Then—well, Zack had nearly died. It was freaky.

After dinner he effectively pushed all thoughts of strange psychic guilt aside by playing a new snowboarding video game he had bought (don't tell any of his friends, this was his secret). It was new, shiny, _fabulous_. His friend Aerith played it too—though, she would never be quite at his level of mastery, if he had anything to say about it.

For a week or so life continued like this. During the day Cloud would roast outside, yelling at ignorant and crazy people, and at night he'd come home, win competitions or faceplant into snow, eat dinner and fall asleep. Summer. It was a glorious time.

Then came one endless Tuesday—Cloud's least favorite day of the week—and he was once more applying sunscreen as he gazed out over the water (the smell of the stuff was probably going to stay on him for the rest of forever). Sephiroth was leaning against Angeal's tower; they were too far for Cloud to make out their conversation, but he could probably guess what it was about. There were at least five girls hovering around Cid, as usual. Lucky guy—or, on second thought, _un_lucky guy. That had to get pretty annoying, no matter how pretty the girls were.

Cloud glanced at his watch, signaled to Tifa and climbed down. Now he had to sit with his feet in the baby pool, watching little kids pee and shit themselves in the water. Joy. Cloud had taken a few steps when he heard a whistle blow, and glanced to the left, at Tifa.

Almost smack dab between him and the other lifeguard was a person in the water. _Fuck. _

_Not again, _Cloud thought. He blew his own whistle, yelled out a command and surveyed the victim, finding that, just like with Zack, they weren't moving—most likely unconscious, and just fucking _shit—_

It was when Cloud reached the man and started towing him over towards Vincent that he realized who it was. _Zack_. The idiot had drowned _again_.

In disbelief, he numbly got him onto land and checked for breathing, moving, a pulse. No, No, Yes. Okay.

Two frantic breaths, and chest compressions again. His arms were getting workouts. He felt Tifa's reassuring hand on his shoulder for a second, and then it slipped off.

Cloud breathed air into Zack's lungs, desperately trying to force life into this stupid man's body. He must have been wearing chapstick; their lips slipped over each other clumsily, teeth clacking—or, on second thought, maybe he was a drooling, spitty mess again.

Zack kicked and spluttered, coughing onto the concrete much faster than he had before. As soon as Cloud had pulled away to do more compressions Zack moved. It was...odd.

"Cloud?" Zack asked, still coughing.

"Did someone call an ambulance?" asked someone, from behind them.

"Yeah, I think—yeah. Yeah. Genesis did."

Cloud almost snapped at them to shut up; Zack was underneath him again and he really couldn't even believe it.

"What are the odds you almost die in our pool _twice_?" He asked in disbelief, reaching up with a hand and gently swatting away someone who tried to help him up.

Zack _laughed_. He had just almost _died_. Why was he laughing?

"I dunno." He sat up, coughed again—it didn't sound very convincing—and grabbed his hand. He squeezed it. "Man, I'm lucky you're here."

Cloud nodded and let Zack be dragged away by Genesis and watched him go, eyes narrowed.

After the second incident Genesis called them all together one morning. They all squashed together onto two old couches, staring at their boss nervously. None of the incidents had been any of their faults, but...

"Look," Genesis said finally, running a hand messily through his hair. "This is making us look bad. Cloud-" he flashed a quick smile at him, "-has been amazing, but people are starting to think we can't do our job, or keep anyone safe. Just... pay really close attention, alright? And if you see that Fair guy again, watch him like hawks!" He waved them all out with a frazzled smile and got a few sympathetic pats. Everyone split up to get ready for the day, and Cloud walked slowly to his station, looking up at the sky. No clouds. It needed to rain.

He ate lunch with with Angeal, Cid and Sephiroth, who all got on break a little bit before he did. They eventually had to leave, and left Cloud eating his packed lunch by himself at a table. It was alright, though—it was nice to have a bit of time to himself, and he was never _really _alone; friendly conversation was only ever a few feet away, with the amount of girls who went to Shin-Ra.

"Is that fruit punch?"

Cloud looked up and coughed juice halfway across the table. Zack patted him on the back twice, hard, and sat down beside him. Their knees bumped.

"Strawberry-Kiwi, actually," Cloud eventually managed. Zack hummed and nodded, inspecting his lunch.

"You know," Cloud began once he recovered completely, "You should stay out of the water."

"Why d'you say that?"

"...I would think nearly drowning twice would be a good reason. You obviously can't swim."

Zack sent him a bright, toothy smile. "I don't have to worry about that when you're on the job, though."

At that Cloud blinked, taking a sullen bite of his sandwich as he studied the other man. Up close he could say that they were probably the same age; maybe Zack was a bit older. He frowned, looking away from the other's wide, grinning mouth. "Next time I'll just let you die."

"You wouldn't do that!"

"I would." Cloud tried to ignore the voice in his mind that was pondering whether or not Zack had just stolen a sip of his juice.

"You'd get fired."

"It would be worth it."

"Ow." Zack laughed, and Cloud smiled.

"How _do _you keep..."

Zack shrugged, deftly stealing a pretzel out of a baggie. "I don't know. I'll be fine in the water, and then the next thing I know..."

Cloud winced. "You should swim with a friend, if you absolutely have to go swimming," he said sternly, honestly wanting to give some useful advice. "Never swim alone."

"I don't have any friends who go here."

_He's so difficult_. "Fine. Just be careful." He finished his juice, crumpled the little box and put it in the empty sandwich bag. He stood. "I have to go back to work now. You can keep those," he added as an afterthought, gesturing to the pretzels Zack was quite obviously taking now. The man beamed, Cloud gave a two-fingered wave, and they parted ways.

...Until two days later, when Cloud had to rescue Zack. _Again_. And then the next day—and the day after that.

Cloud had his suspicions. Something was _off_, yes. The answer to his questions though was so ridiculous he didn't even dare thinking about it. However, on Sunday afternoon he was forced to realize that the little voice in the back of his mind had been right.

Zack was faking.

Cloud crouched over Zack's wet, limp form, tilted his head back carefully and pressed their mouths together tightly. This was almost becoming a fucking _routine_. The other lifeguards were nervously chatting; this didn't make any more sense to them as it did to him.

Cloud breathed out, one hand tangled in Zack's soaked spikes, the other tightly gripping his chin. He took a breath, then was back, pressing close, trying to get Zack to _breathe, dammit, breathe—_

A tongue abruptly slid into his mouth, sliding along the inside of his cheek, over a top row of molars before finally finding his and twining around it.

For a second Cloud didn't move. Zack's lips moved against his, nothing too much but yes, definitely moving. Zack was kissing him.

Cloud sprang back, falling on his ass onto the ground. Zack was instantly up, coughing and looking pained and thankful to be alive, just like the other days.

He was one fucking good actor.

Zack looked completely innocent as he wiped eyes that were perhaps filled with tears (yeah right!) and took deep breaths of air, like he honestly couldn't believe that he'd ever get to again.

Holy. Shit.

The knowledge that Zack was pretending to drown so that he'd get mouth-to-mouth and could kiss him didn't bother Cloud that much.

That was a lie. A filthy, filthy _lie_.

He couldn't even believe it. His first reaction had been to tell someone—he had dragged Angeal into a small stall in the bathrooms, fully prepared to tell him, then realized he couldn't. It was... it was just too freaking weird. He had shrugged helplessly, pulled him out, only to get a _very _strange look from Vincent. Angeal had been good about it, though, patting his elbow and telling him that if he ever had to talk, he'd be there. Such a good friend.

No, Cloud didn't tell anyone. Not yet, anyway. Maybe Zack wouldn't come back; maybe he wouldn't bother him anymore; maybe he wouldn't try to drown himself again. He didn't really believe it.

Sure enough, the next day, almost directly in front of his lifeguard tower was a floating body. He fucking hated Mondays.

Cloud stared at it for a few seconds, praying that somehow no one else would notice. Couldn't they all just ignore him? He was a hot guy, and to be honest Cloud wouldn't have minded kissing him, for real—but this was weird and he really couldn't handle it.

"Lifeguard!" some fat kid yelled, flailing his arms. "He's dead!"

"He's not dead," Cloud said calmly. "He's faking."

He could have sworn he saw Zack twitch.

"_No_," stressed the kid, "He's _dead_!" A woman and her husband swimming a short distance away looked over at that and started yelling for him too. Cloud tried to explain how he was just faking it, to bother him, he was—he was his _friend_, see, and was just trying to bug him—hahaha—

They didn't buy it, and Cloud ended up wet, dragging Zack out of the pool again, this time with enraged poolgoers heckling him. He made his chest compressions especially vicious, and he saw a little bit of air escape Zack's lungs with each one. He was starting to bruise from all the repeated harsh treatment, day after day; the thought made him feel a little better, but only a little.

Cloud hesitantly brought their lips together. Now that he knew what this was it was so, so much different—this wasn't saving someone's life. This was... whatever this was. His nails dug into Zack's cheek in warning, but the man didn't listen. He planted a solid smooch to his lips, and Cloud's nails dragged down, trying to inflict as much damage as possible in a short amount of time. In a few seconds they broke apart, Zack's smile victorious, despite the red scratches down the side of his face. Cloud was glaring, lips tingling and heart thumping.

The next three days were taken off. A breather was sorely needed. Genesis hadn't even hesitated giving it to him; Cloud had been doing a lot of life-saving lately, after all, and even though this one couple had filed a complaint against him he was one of the better employees.

For three days Cloud hid at home, looking at himself in the mirror, playing his snowboarding game and eating instant ramen. Living large.

Eventually he'd have to confront Zack, he knew. He'd yell, Zack would leave him alone, and that would be the end of that.

To be honest, though, some part of Cloud thought that this was kind of...cool. In his defense it wasn't every day that someone did something so crazy for _his _attention; he couldn't help but be flattered, underneath all his confusion.

Cloud resolved to do nothing, at least for a few more days. If Zack continued, then he'd say something. Probably.

It was Genesis who brought Cloud into his stuffy office four days later. Zack had 'drowned' four more times—and Cloud had saved him—and been kissed by him—four times too. The third day a civilian had tried to rescue Zack after screaming at Cloud, who was vehemently swearing that Zack was just pretending, and had nearly drowned himself. Cloud had ended up saving two people, and Genesis had gotten a lawsuit threat by an angry wife.

Brilliant.

Genesis sat Cloud in his chair and stood in front of him, hands going to his hips. Before the man could open his mouth Cloud said desperately, "He's faking it—_really_. Really, Genesis. I can't get him to stop."

He got a critical look for his efforts, and Genesis sighed loudly, leaning against a wall and resting his head against it. He asked quietly, clearly exhausted, "...How can you tell?"

Cloud went crimson. He fidgeted, clenched his knees together with his hands clapped in between them, and jiggled a knee. Genesis frowned, waiting for an answer, and Cloud squinted, looked at the floor and told him what Zack was really up to.

Genesis was quiet for a moment, and then he brought a hand to his forehead with far more force than was necessary. "I'm not going to get sued over weird _puppy love_." He walked forward, put his hands on Cloud's shoulders and shook him back and forth as he said loudly, suddenly quite scary, "Get him to stop, you hear me? I don't care what you have to do."

Wincing, Cloud protested, "But-"

Genesis gave him that _look_, and he fell silent. Finally he nodded, sighing, and Genesis pushed him out with a chuckle, clearly enjoying his misery. Cloud turned around sullenly, watching as Genesis shut the door in his face. "I mean it!" he called through the door, and Cloud rolled his eyes, leaving.

The next day Cloud hid next to the entrance, near the bathrooms. From his position he could see the people who entered.

He had to intercept Zack before he could pull anything today.

He saw a few friends walk in, but not who he was looking for. Eventually he grew tired of standing, people were looking at him funny, and he was sweating. _Just a few more minutes_, he promised himself, and stuck through it.

Sure enough, Zack entered right after his little promise. He was wearing a bathing suit—_sunflowers again—_and a white t-shirt. He immediately turned to the side, making a beeline for the grassy areas, where people laid out their towels and blankets. Cloud noticed Zack didn't have anything with him. He backed up a few feet, waited until Zack passed in front of him and sprang out, latching onto the other's arm and pulling.

Zack struggled for about two seconds, then realized who was grabbing him. He relaxed and asked, surprised, "Cloud?"

Cloud paused. He hadn't actually planned out his speech yet. He let go, took a step back and frowned for a few seconds, then settled for growling, "You need to stop drowning yourself every day."

It was the weirdest sentence he had ever spoken.

Zack didn't seem surprised in the least that he had figured it out. He raised his eyebrows and stayed silent, hands finding his bathing suit pockets.

Both men were quiet, Zack patiently waiting, and Cloud refusing to give in. But eventually Cloud sighed and said shortly, "You're going to get us shut down. You're giving our pool a bad name. You really need to stop."

He didn't even have the decency to look guilty. Zack beamed, as if that had been his intention all along.

"Look," he grinned, "I hear you. I don't want that any more than you do." (Cloud didn't quite believe him.) "I'll stop-" He held up one slender finger, "-if you go on one date with me."

"...No?" Zack questioned a minute later, after Cloud had said nothing.

"You just want a date?" Cloud asked slowly.

Zack went back to smiling again. "Yup."

"You couldn't have, just, asked me out?"

"Nope."

Cloud caught sight of Genesis lurking around, spying on them, and he sighed, gaze stubbornly not landing on Zack.

"...I guess," he ground out, trying to look annoyed still but quite literally a _mess _on the inside.

Zack snapped his fingers in victory and swooped in, giving Cloud a kiss—a _real _one, no pretending-to-be-dying involved whatsoever. "I'll pick you up here tomorrow," he said, hand cupping Cloud's cheek; Cloud somehow didn't mind the foreign hand that landed on his hip and squeezed gently.

"Uh. Okay."

* * *

Tap tap, taptaptap—

_Tweet._

"No running!"

Cloud leant back in his chair, looking up at the sky. Still no clouds. It _desperately _needed to rain.

Something poked his foot, and he jumped. Zack's ever-smiling face was shadowed by a hat today—yesterday he had told him how he really liked hats. This one suited him.

Cloud weakly blew his whistle, not quite loud enough for anyone far away to hear him. "No bothering the lifeguards."

At that Zack pouted. His fingers wiggled across the hot platform, reaching for his toes. Cloud moved his foot away, wishing the other had never found out he was ticklish.

"How are you today?"

_Perfect_. "Okay," Cloud answered easily, turning his head to the right but really looking at Zack out of the corner of his sunglasses. Sneaky.

They had gone out to dinner the evening before, and then Zack had brought him to this magician's show close by. It had been pretty freaking cool, even though he had felt a little bit silly, cheering along with some littler kids. Then they had just hung out for a while, talking and, well, kissing. You couldn't blame them.

"Hey, Zack?" Cloud questioned as soon as he got on his break, as they walked to an empty picnic table. "Was it hard faking that whole time? You were pretty convincing...well, the first time."

Zack's hand found his. "I really did almost drown that time," he laughed. "I think I got a cramp. I don't really remember. But I woke up and there you _were_."

Cloud turned red, sped up and pulled his new boyfriend along behind him so he wouldn't see. "Don't do it again," he said, annoyed and not making sense.

They sat, pulled out lunch and started eating. Zack's knees brushed his under the table, and this time Cloud didn't try to stop him from stealing his food.

"You can save me the next time I almost die for real," Zack murmured through a mouthful of sandwich, and Cloud laughed. So ridiculous.

He was so wrapped up in Zack he didn't notice the dark storm cloud at the edge of the horizon, bringing with it the blessed rain he had been looking for for weeks now.

Awesome.

* * *

**ZackCloud is not going to be the only pairing, I would just like to stress that again- these things are any and all combinations of ASGZC. :D**


	2. Toy Shopping AC

**Prompt: Toy Shopping**_  
_

_

* * *

_

The answer was... ten, right? You had to turn the knob to the number ten...and then...do something with the switch on the back... Hm.

Cloud frowned at his textbook, playing with his pen. He twirled it between his fingers, tapping the tip against the glossy pages of the book. He squinted and realized that he was making little blue tic marks on the paper and flipped his pen over, now tapping with the back end.

He didn't get this stuff, and at this rate, he never would.

Cloud let his head droop forward onto the textbook, resting his cheek against the cool pages. Blegh. Homework. He laid there on the carpet, boneless, for a second, then lifted his head back up. He kicked his feet a little, bent at the knees and socked feet wiggling in the air. After checking over both his shoulders, he concluded that there wasn't anyone else in the room.

He stood with a frown, hefting up his study materials and poked his head into the kitchen, still seeing no one. He padded into the bedroom, guest room and living room, then checked one of the offices built into the side of the apartment. There was Angeal, scribbling away at a report.

Cloud shyly knocked on the doorframe, body halfway out into the hallway. Angeal looked up, noticed Cloud and smiled.

"Hey," he said, putting his pen down and stretching.

Cloud inched into the room a little, socked feet digging into the soft carpet. "Are you busy?"

"I can take a short break. What's up?"

Cloud finally entered fully, holding the book to his chest. He quickly walked to the desk and deposited his books on its surface, pointing at the problem that had confused him. Angeal leant back and held out an arm—with a blush Cloud perched on the man's thigh, abruptly being tugged back into a more comfortable position.

Angeal propped his chin up on the boy's shoulder and peered at the book, an arm curling around Cloud's waist. The boy asked, "What do we do with the transceiver again?"

After five minutes of explaining and flipping between two diagrams of the device that had so stumped Cloud, the blond thought he understood. He borrowed a pen off of the desk and began scribbling his answer, smiling when Angeal pressed a proud kiss to his ear.

The phone rang, and Angeal squeezed his hip once before leaving the room to get it, Cloud standing as best he could to make room for his exit. Cloud sat in the chair, still pleasantly warm from his oldest boyfriend's body warmth and listened absently as Angeal said, "Hello?"

He flipped through the book again, frowning at the differences between the A-13 and the A-47 models. Ugh, Shin-Ra and its damned equipment... He erased a bit of his answer and kept writing.

He heard Angeal laugh, louder and more high-pitched than usual, and he paused.

"Hahaha—really?"

…

"Mmmm."

…

"Yeah—get that. Definitely get that."

Cloud shook his head, curious but not wanting to eavesdrop. He may have been talking to the other three, who were out shopping; maybe not. Cloud tapped his borrowed pencil some more, flipping to the glossary in the back.

Angeal's voice got louder after a minute more, and Cloud heard, quite clearly, "Are you so sure about that one?"

Cloud looked up—Angeal was in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame, arms folded as he watched Cloud work. Cloud jumped a little and tilted his head, curious (and more than a bit suspicious).

"Okay, okay," Angeal said with a wide grin, showing an unnerving amount of shiny teeth. "I can see that one just fine."

He went back to the kitchen, and Cloud gave up trying to get any work done for now. Cloud carefully got out of his chair, muscles jerky as he crept to the door. He dropped to his knees and peered around the corner, seeing Angeal pacing in the kitchen, nodding at whatever the other person on the line was saying.

"Hmm—lemme check," he said after a moment of thought. "Be right back." He set the phone down carefully on an end table and left for the master bedroom. Cloud waited until he disappeared inside before darting on silent feet out of the office. He looked searchingly at the bedroom, then picked up the phone and held it to his ear, trying to hear whoever it was.

"—bout that one?"

_Zack!_

Cloud concentrated, closing his eyes after another frantic glance behind him. He could hear Zack talking—and there was Genesis, and there Sephiroth.

"No—that would probably scare him," Genesis said.

Cloud heard some shuffling, and then he heard Sephiroth: "I'd like to try a whip sometime."

...What? What? A whip?

"Eww," came Zack's voice. "I don't care what Angeal says—flesh colored dildos creep me the hell out."

_OHMIGOD._

Cloud went bright red, wanting to retreat into the office before Angeal came back but was unable to move the phone away from his ear.

"Think Cloudy would taste best with Cherry or Banana?"

_They're talking about me!_ The hand holding the phone trembled as a number of lewd thoughts and images crept into his head.

"Raspberry might be interesting," Sephiroth said, sounding thoughtful.

Cloud eeped quietly, legs shaking. They were... definitely _shopping_, all right—but for... that kind of stuff! He hadn't been dating these guys for very long—they were easing him into all that stuff (he was still a virgin, for crying out loud!). His eyes closed, though, and he clumsily tried to picture Sephiroth with that whip, standing over him, eyes glowing a bright green, or Genesis wearing what was now being described over the phone, or Zack with his warm mouth traveling from his neck to his chest and even below—

He let out a loud, frightened yelp as arms wrapped around his waist. He flailed, trying to get away, and he felt the phone being plucked out of his grasp.

Angeal held Cloud to him and said with a chuckle into the small device, "You guys had an eavesdropper."

Cloud said loudly, trying to pry the man off him in his panic, "No—that's not—I didn't—I'm _sorry, _okay!—mean to _listen_, I -I-I just—"

The older man laughed at whatever was said on the other line. Cloud shuddered as Angeal's tongue licked a warm, wet path from the base of his neck to his ear, curling around the lobe. He breathed into the boy's ear and Cloud's attempts to get away only increased.

Shit! Homework! Right!

"To answer your question..." Angeal said, voice deep, "We have two."

_Two what?_ Cloud didn't let himself think about it—he probably didn't want to know.

His struggles sharply decreased in intensity as Angeal kept talking; one of the man's hands glided down his back, over his ass and to the back of his thigh, then circled around to the front of his leg and glided back up. Angeal's hand came to a rest on top of the zipper of Cloud's pants.

The phone was suddenly at his ear, and he heard Zack say, a smile clear in his voice, "_Hey_, Baby."

Cloud could only let out a shaky moan when Angeal gently squeezed. He embarrassedly pushed the phone away, gasping as Angeal did it again, back arching, the back of his head resting on the man's shoulder. Angeal kissed his throat, much to Cloud's ticklish displeasure, and kept talking about absolutely filthy things right there, where Cloud could hear every bit.

Cloud weakly tried to grab Angeal's wrists so he could escape, go back and read about navigational equipment until his eyes bled; the SOLDIER trapped the phone between his ear and shoulder and, now having both hands free to mess with Cloud, slid a hand up the front of his shirt to run over the incredibly smooth, soft skin underneath while the other began to play with the button of his jeans.

"I need more for my office," Angeal muttered, sounding slightly distracted as he answered whoever had spoken to him. Cloud distinctly heard a tinny version of Genesis's laugh and he frowned. His hazy mind had by now given up thoughts of homework by this point, and he turned around in Angeal's arms, wrapping his own around the older man's neck and allowing himself to be picked up.

"...Sounds good—mmhmm," Angeal said, sounding less invested in phone conversation by the second. Cloud grabbed his cheeks and pulled him away from the phone and into a burning open-mouthed kiss, legs trying to wrap around the man's waist as best they could. The phone nearly clattered to the ground but Angeal managed to catch it. He laughed at something someone said and said enthusiastically, "_Sure_!"

He held the phone to Cloud's ear, and Sephiroth said, his voice making Cloud shiver as it always did, "See you soon, Cloud. Have fun with Angeal."

"...Hm," Cloud said, face pursing into an almost-pout as he looked off to the side. "I will." Angeal meant to hang up and Cloud said quickly, "W-Wait!" He took it and held it to his ear again.

"Hmm?" Sephiroth asked, sounding entirely too amused.

"Uhh," Cloud floundered, resting his burning cheek on Angeal's shoulder. The man hefted him a bit higher and started walking somewhere—maybe the couch, or the office, or the bedroom, or somewhere else? Cloud wasn't sure what he wanted to ask Sephiroth and finally settled for, "...You guys are gross."

He heard Sephiroth's rare, quiet laugh, and Cloud hung up on him, passing the phone to Angeal. Angeal tossed it onto an armchair carelessly and said with a snort, "You think so?"

Cloud wiggled restlessly as Angeal's questing fingers finally had success with the button of his pants. Angeal kissed his ear, quite similar and yet so unlike how he had earlier when Cloud had been doing his homework. "When they get home," he breathed, "We'll make you change your mind."

One last fleeting glance was shot to his textbook, lying open on the desk in the other room. He clearly wasn't going to be getting any more homework done.

* * *

**They watched a movie together. Clearly.**


	3. Seduce the Paperboy  GZ

** This is for TornAngelWings, whose birthday is on February tenth. Happy Birthday, Taw! This is one out of four-there are three more coming. There will be a Genesis/Zack, an Angeal/Genesis, a Genesis/Sephiroth/Genesis, and a Genesis/Cloud (you can tell she loves Genesis, eh?). Thanks for being such a good friend and betaing my stuff for me lately, Taw. Chuu~ And thanks to CloudedMirror for providing the prompt! I apologize slightly for this one, because Genesis is weird and possibly psychotic, idk. And I didn't really proofread. And the whole scenario is nuts. XD I love you guys.  
**

**Genesis/Zack, prompt: Seduce the Paperboy**

* * *

Quick—quick!

The alarm clock's shrill beeping was cut off with a clumsily-placed smack. Genesis rolled out of bed, almost literally; he hit the ground at a crouch, legs almost giving out underneath him, then stumbled forward, leaping for the door.

Hurry—hurry!

His broken foot was so obnoxious. Its splint clunked loudly in the still house, jarring his already-shot nerves but Genesis pressed onward, rushing into the kitchen. He parted his curtains, glanced out at the still-dark street for a brief second, then continued, skidding on the shiny tile and almost crashing into the refrigerator. Genesis threw together a hasty cup of coffee (due to time he unfortunately had to make the microwave kind) and waited for it to heat impatiently, flitting back and forth between the appliance and the window.

When it finished he grabbed the mug and half limped, half-hopped to the living room, spilling some scalding fluid on his left hand by accident. Genesis cursed, blew on his steaming flesh and crouched low, peering out of the glass to the quiet street. It was still dark, but the sun, yellow and pink, was beginning to brighten the scenery.

He couldn't blink, or he'd miss it.

Genesis's fingers curled around the warm porcelain of his mug and his eyes swept the street, left to right—very carefully. It was almost time...

A figure on a bicycle turned the corner and started down LOVELESS Avenue. Genesis held his breath, coffee forgotten as he watched the person.

They had skill—they didn't stop or even slow down as they passed each house. Genesis watched with fascination as the person—a young man, he knew—reached into the sack on his back and threw that day's newspaper onto residents' porches, always with impeccable strength and precision.

He was magnificent to behold, his paperboy!

Genesis' whole body tingled when the man tossed his paper; it landed only a short distance from the door, almost directly in line with it. Nice shot! For a brief moment, he (or his house) had been the sole occupant of his paperboy's thoughts—and that was exciting, very much so.

The bike disappeared from view. His daily half a minute, early-morning beam of radiance was over and gone. He wouldn't despair, though—he would experience it again tomorrow at the crack of dawn, half-asleep and suffering from burnt fingers. That thought was enough to get him through his day.

As Genesis read his paper a bit later over a bowl of _Mako Flakes_ he pondered his mystery man. He was new—Genesis could clearly remember a kid, no more than eleven maybe, pedaling down his street each morning. The boy's newest, much older, beautiful replacement hadn't been around for more than a week or two, that was for certain. Hopefully (Genesis couldn't bear to think that his newest obsession had been around for a while without his knowledge).

On Monday Genesis had been woken up by his foot again, so he had been awake, swallowing painkillers—he had been awake, perhaps for one of the first times, to catch his paperboy toss his paper onto his sidewalk.

It had been love at first sight, even though it was dark and Genesis couldn't actually _see_ that well. With the help of the sun's first rays and the still-lit streetlights he had glimpsed, for a split second, a youthful, handsome face, wild black hair and pretty light eyes, though the color of which he was unsure.

It didn't matter. A flawless young thing was riding past his house every morning, and Genesis was going to at the very least get his name—and possibly more, if luck was on his side.

He debated telling Angeal or Sephiroth about it. The eventual decision was no—no, because they'd try to discourage him or think he wasn't being serious, and that simply wasn't allowed.

So, Genesis kept his infatuation to himself. He said nothing as he ate with his two friends on his lunch break that day and remained silent through all the chatter going on in the office as always. Genesis said nothing and, for better or for worse, planned his course of action in secret.

* * *

Before anything else could begin, Genesis had to learn his name. He wouldn't learn the man's name by peeking at him through the curtains, which was why he started jogging back and forth down his street, trying to look active (and his best).

It was getting warmer each morning; summers in Midgar were brutal. Genesis wiped his already-sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, trying to hide the fact that he couldn't run with his foot the way it was. He felt ridiculous, trotting up and down the sidewalk in exercise clothes he had bought especially for the occasion—but what could he do?

Luckily for him, his paperboy turned the corner as Genesis reached the end of the opposite side of the street; he turned around and tried to casually go towards the figure he could see slowly getting closer.

They met in front of Genesis' house. The redhead put his hands on his hips, panting a little, and smiled as the man brought the bike to a stop beside him, putting one foot on the pavement while the other stayed on the pedals.

"Good morning," the man said cheerily, reaching into his sack for a paper.

It was a good thing it was still relatively dark, because Genesis was starting to blush a little. "Good morning," he returned after a brief moment, trying to stand in such a way that he looked his most appealing.

The man handed him his paper, and Genesis said quickly, before he could leave, "You haven't been doing this for very long, have you? I've only seen you for a week or so."

The man's face lit up in surprised pleasure. Genesis's eyes were glued to his face, drinking in the sight of that face, that hair, those eyes—blue, he could see now—the slight faded scar on his jaw.

"Yeah!" he said happily, putting all his weight on one foot and moving the bike from side to side, full of energy. "The usual kid—my cousin—is really sick, so I'm taking over until he's better."

"That's so nice of you," Genesis said, throwing in a flirtatious smile just because he could. "I hope he recovers soon."

The man beamed, ducking his head in bashfulness. "Heh, thanks. I hope so too." He suddenly stuck out his hand, which Genesis took, heartbeat thumping loudly in his ears.

"I'm Zack Fair. It's nice to meet you, Sir."

"It's my pleasure. Genesis Rhapsodos." Genesis tried to hide the victorious smile that was threatening to overtake his features.

Zack grinned at him for a second, looking lovely with the sunrise hitting him just right, then gave a cute two-fingered salute before starting to ride away. He called behind him, "Have a good day!"

Genesis stood still and watched his paperboy—_Zack—_finish up on his street and head down a road that led to the next suburban development. When the last spokes of the back wheel disappeared Genesis limped inside, holding the newspaper to his chest. He slammed the door shut and collapsed against the back of it, legs nearly giving out and sending him crashing to the floor.

Okay.

Genesis definitely knew what he had to do—_seduce the paperboy. _But how?

He would ponder that at work today. He headed towards the shower, hot and gross and in considerable pain but happy, exceedingly so.

Zack Fair, huh?

* * *

It turned out he had to put his plans on hold. All that running had majorly fucked up his foot; after a day of heart-wrenching agony he visited his doctor. Hollander said he had sprained the healing bones again and had to get rid of the splint and stick his foot in a cast—if it happened again, he said, he'd have to get surgery (he was apparently lucky he didn't have to get it as it was).

Now sporting a set of crutches and a red cast signed by all his pals, Genesis sulked at home. He had missed Zack—Zack Zack _Zack—_a full two days in a row because of his damned foot. Luckily he had the rest of the week off from work; Lazard was such a caring guy, even if he was a dick sometimes.

What did he do now? As an invalid he couldn't exactly—

...He could play the wounded card, Genesis realized with a jolt, lying on his couch and stuffing his face with unidentified sweets. Yes—yes he could.

The next morning Genesis burst out of his house just as Zack approached, hand already reaching into the sack around his shoulder. Genesis lifted one crutch into the air, trying to catch Zack's attention. The man looked up, ready to throw the paper and braked upon seeing the redhead.

Genesis quickly traveled down his porch (precariously) and hobbled to the street, where Zack was waiting, curiously studying the cast on Geneesis's foot.

"Hey...Genesis," Zack said after a moment of thought. It pleased Genesis to no end that Zack had remembered his name.

"Morning," Genesis, slightly out of breath and cranky from pain.

"What happened to you?"

Genesis peered at the innocently curious face and replied, finding himself unable to lie, "I was reading a favorite book of mine at work, not watching where I was going... and I fell down a flight of stairs." He laughed. "Unfortunately, it's not very exciting. I made it worse by," he paused, "...jogging the other morning."

"Ah, that sucks," Zack said sympathetically. He handed Genesis his paper.

"If it's not too much trouble," Genesis began hesitantly, "Would you mind throwing it onto the porch? It's dangerous and difficult for me to go down stairs with these things..."

Zack looked up in horror. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "No, no problem. Sorry man—I wouldn't have made you come out here if I'd known."

"It's no trouble," Genesis replied breezily, hiding a devious smile behind his hand for a second. "Thank you so much." Such a kind soul, that Zack.

Zack grinned. "Not at all. I hope you feel better."

Genesis raised a hand in farewell, feeling giddy.

* * *

The next morning Genesis was taken by surprise when his doorbell rang as he was in the middle of his frantic coffee routine. He blinked slowly at his door and hobbled over with one of his crutches under his right arm. He opened the door, unable to stifle a yawn.

"Morning!"

Genesis froze, staring with sleepy eyes at the man on his doorstep. When he had asked the man to throw his paper on the porch he hadn't... completely had ulterior motives; he honestly didn't want to fall down more steps. He hadn't expected a personal delivery a few minutes earlier than usual, not at all. He certainly wasn't going to complain, even though he was sleepy and rumpled and probably not looking his best.

"Zack," Genesis said, surprised. "I didn't mean-"

"Aww," Zack interrupted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I know what you meant, but I felt bad. So. Heh." He held out the paper, which Genesis took. The microwave beeped, and Zack seemed to take that as his cue to skedaddle.

"Have a good day," he chimed and gave that playful little salute. He turned around and jogged back to his bike, which was on its side on the sidewalk. Genesis rumpled his bedhead further with one hand and waved, then closed the door. Then he exhaled.

...Excellent.

* * *

Genesis quickly managed to turn this newest development in his favor. The object of his affections was dutifully knocking on his door each morning, the sweet little thing—there was a lot he could do with that.

One day Genesis went for the 'harried' look—he had gotten up exceptionally early and was half-dressed in that day's suit by the time Zack came. He had answered the door with his tie around the back of his neck, a few buttons of his shirt undone, and a piece of toast in his mouth. Zack had flushed a little, graciously handed him the paper and split.

Was Zack interested? Was he not? For Genesis' wishes to come to fruition Zack couldn't be straight, naturally; he would continue to test the waters a little, figure it out.

Genesis tried a variety of things: he answered the door while licking the cream from his breakfast pastry off his fingers, he took the sleepy look to the extreme a few times, he answered the door shirtless and in in low-slung sleep pants (much to Zack's embarrassment), he struck up conversation. Zack was always eager to chat with him for a few minutes before he had to move on to the next house.

He learned that Zack's cousin Denzel was sick with a new disease called Geostigma. He was resting, though, and was expected to make a full recovery soon. Genesis learned, through a series of short but easy conversations, that Zack was twenty-two, two years younger than him, and he was attending Midgar University.

They seemed to click. Zack's happy enthusiasm and natural smarts were refreshing that early in the morning when Genesis still felt like a zombie—and Genesis's dry humor cracked Zack up. Genesis found himself waking up even more excited than he had been in the beginning, looking forward to just talking to the handsome young man. Zack made Genesis swing around in his desk chair at work once he eventually went back, feeling squiggly and like his heart and guts were going to just crawl out of his body and he'd dissolve in a puddle of adoring goo. ...It was very, very strange.

Angeal and Sephiroth were aware, by now, that Genesis was keeping something from them; they bugged and pestered, but Genesis shooed them away with a few well-placed lines of poetry (they quickly left, not huge fans of literature themselves). Genesis planned out more fun ways to greet Zackary on a piece of paper next to his computer screen, occasionally glancing down and smiling at the nearly illegible _Zack Fair _on his cast, near his heel; Zack had signed it about a week into their new routine, drawing a little smiley face beside his name. It warmed his heart to see it whenever he wanted.

On one of the warmest mornings of the summer Genesis lugged himself outside to his car, retrieving a bucket, some soap, and a huge sponge. He was going to wash his car, and when Zack rode by he would undoubtedly be possessed by adoration and come kiss him. In theory. If Zack asked why he was washing his car this early in the morning he could always say it was because he wanted to do it before it got too hot, as it would later in the afternoon.

So, Genesis stripped off his shirt, sprayed himself a little on purpose, and got to work, occasionally crutching over to his cup of coffee he had set on the front mailbox.

He saw the familiar figure on the bike turn onto the street and Genesis started washing the back windshield of his car with vigor, trying to flex and look cool without getting his cast wet, because then it would reek and that wasn't sexy at all. He shot a sneaky glance to the right, surprised to see Zack was progressing much slower than usual, stopping in front of each house, then reaching into his bag and chucking it onto everyone's lawn. Hmm.

Genesis accidentally dribbled some soap down his chest, and then accidentally dropped the sponge into the bucket, acciden—er, bending over to pick it up—and was surprised to see someone who was _not Zack, _staring at his upside-down self. Genesis righted himself and peered at the blond, who was checking something written on his hand and glancing at his house number.

"Genesis?" the boy asked.

It couldn't have been Denzel, could it? No—Zack had said that Denzel was ten, and this boy must have been seventeen or eighteen or so. Genesis let go of the hose nozzle, dropping it carelessly onto the driveway, and grabbed his crutch.

"Yes," he said, probably a bit shorter than he would have liked—but hey, he had to be forgiven—_Zack wasn't here_.

The boy sensed his confusion. "Ah, I'm Cloud, Zack's friend. He wanted me to tell you that he won't be doing this for a little while... anywhere from a few days until a few weeks." Cloud glanced at his face and said, looking sadly at the ground, "It's Denzel. He got a lot worse yesterday night, so Zack's helping to take care of him. I volunteered to do this for him... and don't worry, he told me about your foot. I'll come to your door, you won't have to endanger yourself or anything."

Genesis smiled at the kid who was so obviously trying so hard, even though he was heartbroken. "Thanks," he said, exhaling and wiping his palms on his pants, accepting the paper Cloud handed him. He said a bit awkwardly, "I hope Denzel gets better soon."

"Me too," Cloud replied quietly, then shook his head a little. He got back on the bike and lifted his hand in farewell. "Oh, and Zack says hi," the boy said with a grin, then left.

Genesis watched him go, then turned to his car, not caring about its cleanliness anymore. He blandly sprayed it all down, not bothering to wax or even finish soaping the front, which he had missed; he could just as easily go in an automated car wash later. Blegh.

Oh, Zack. His poor cousin.

Genesis established a new routine, one that wasn't as nice as the previous one, but somewhat enjoyable nonetheless. Every morning Cloud gave him little updates of Denzel's health and Zack's activities, and he almost always had a message from Zack to him. Luckily the boy didn't mind being the little go-between for the both of them. Cloud was cute in an utterly adorable way and funny and amusing so his mornings weren't so bad, but he missed Zack. Cloud seemed to understand.

To stave off impending depression Genesis invited his best friends over one night. In the middle of the crappy movie they were watching Genesis turned the TV off and confessed, telling them all about his actions over the past few weeks, ever since he was woken up by foot pain and saw Zack Fair riding past his house on his bike.

Angeal brought a hand to his forehead and collapsed against the back of the couch, saying nothing. Sephiroth stared at Genesis for a moment and disappeared, returning a few minutes later with a glass of some alcoholic beverage in it that Genesis hadn't known he owned.

"Nice, Genesis," Sephiroth finally said, shaking his head.

Angeal said with a chuckle, "It's probably way creepier than he's saying it is."

Genesis glared and threw a pillow at his head, and then at Sephiroth too when he agreed with the dark-haried man. They stayed up late, got mildly drunk, bitched out some of their coworkers, discussed every wonderful facet of Zack's existence (or Genesis did, as the other two dozed on each other) and eventually they all fell asleep on the couch downstairs.

Genesis woke up when the doorbell rang. He blearily rubbed his eyes, shoved Angeal's arm off his stomach and stumbled blindly towards where he thought the door was, trying desperately to wake himself up. Cloud would have more news for him, no doubt—or perhaps Zack was back!

He eventually made it to his front door and was surprised to see Sephiroth already awake, dressed and radiant as usual, and... leaning casually against his doorframe and talking to Cloud?

Yep—Cloud was laughing at something Sephiroth said, fidgeting shyly, and Sephiroth was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, something he did only when he was nervous. He was tall and seemed relaxed and composed, and Genesis was instantly jealous—he never looked like that when he was talking to Zack, no doubt.

"Stop harassing him, Sephiroth," Genesis said, delighting in the way they both jumped a little.

"Ah—m-morning!" Cloud flicked his hair a little, clearly flustered. "Denzel's doing a lot better today. Zack wanted me to, uh, give you this..." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a tiny folded piece of paper. He handed it to Genesis, catching Sephiroth's eye again and blushing.

Genesis didn't dare unfold it when Sephiroth was present. He smiled widely, thanked Cloud graciously and narrowed his eyes playfully at Sephiroth as he bade Cloud goodbye. "It was wonderful to meet you...Cloud," he said, a slow smile spreading over his face. Cloud nodded wordlessly, seemingly unable to speak and hurried away, nearly tripping over the bike once he reached it.

"And you call _me_ creepy," Genesis said snootily before retreating to his bedroom to read the note.

_Hey Genesis!_

_Long time no see, eh? Cloud tells me that you've been kind of down lately. Don't worry—I'll be back pretty soon, Denzel's getting loads better. Hopefully he'll be good enough to deliver the paper again by the end of the month. Thanks for being so good to Spiky, he says you're a nice guy._

_Don't miss me too much,_

_Zack_

Genesis poured over the simple note many a time. Somehow the words sounded like the finest poetry, raw emotion put down on paper—and even though that was bullshit because it was just a simple note, Genesis convinced himself it was so. He had Angeal analyze it for possible _flirting-ness_, and Angeal seemed pretty convinced Zack had the hots for him, but Genesis couldn't be totally sure, because Sephiroth said he couldn't detect anything (though he was probably just being a brat because Genesis and Angeal had been teasing him about Cloud).

And speaking of Sephiroth...Genesis woke up to find Sephiroth in his house every day for the next week. As far as he knew Sephiroth didn't have a key, so how he was getting in was anyone's guess. Sephiroth even turned off Genesis's alarm so he slept through his usual meeting time and woke up at eight to a very smug Sephiroth who said he had talked to the boy for at least half an hour (before Cloud remembered that he had a job to do and had run out of the house) and invited him in for breakfast.

Jealousy, such jealousy. It was okay, though, because he had that note from Zack's pressed to minimize the creases and sitting on the top of his dresser.

Genesis was pleased that Sephiroth stopped coming to his house, for a few days, at least, once he had obtained Cloud's contact information. He could creep on the poor boy somewhere else, thank you very much. Genesis was free to inquire about Zack in peace, and he was pleased to hear that Denzel was being healed by a Doctor Aerith at the Shin-Ra hospital nearby and was looking much better, to his family and friends' delight.

One morning he opened his door, looking down, ready to greet the blond who had been Zack's replacement for so long, but he found himself looking at a man's neck—a lovely neck, to be sure, but that was not Cloud so _that _meant—

"Hey!"

Genesis grinned widely and was swept into a grabby, masculine hug from the man he had been waiting to see. Genesis nearly fell over, as he didn't have his crutches with him, but Zack realized this, stabilized them both and stepped back happily.

"It's great to see you," Genesis said lamely, because it was all he could say.

"Same." Zack seemed almost shy but not really, because shy had never been his style. He lightly punched the redhead on the arm and asked cheekily, "Miss me?"

Genesis replied, perfectly honest and with a wink, "Absolutely."

Zack looked away for a second, scuffing his shoe against the step of the porch. He said softly, glancing at him with cautious blue eyes, "Yeah... me too."

Then there was silence for a few seconds, and they stared at each other uncomfortably. Genesis then said a careless _fuck it _to whoever was listening and moved in, cupping the back of Zack's head and kissing him for a moment, just a few seconds. Zack was mostly still but his hands gently came to rest on the older man's chest near his shoulders, like he had been expecting it (which he probably had, honestly).

Genesis let go and withdrew, then smiled, eyes curving into happy half-moons that he usually tried to hide, because they made him look funny. He momentarily forgot himself—but could you blame him?

Zack looked left and right at the empty street, just to make sure and put his arms around Genesis's neck with a grin, pulling the redhead towards him with a tiny laugh. Genesis was happy to comply, but hissed in pain a minute later, hopping on one foot and falling sideways into the door frame, Zack falling with him.

"Oops," Zack said, glancing apologetically down at Genesis's exposed toes sticking out of his cast. "My bad."

"Ow. It's okay."

They blabbered like fools about how much they had missed each other and when they were first really attracted to each other and things like that, and after a short while of talk and kisses Zack said, glancing mournfully at the bike, "I have to gooo."

"I have to go to work," Genesis said, thoroughly pissed off at the thought. Zack smooched his angry frown away and ripped himself away, heading towards his bike.

"Oh. Nearly forgot." He tossed a newspaper at him, which sailed past Genesis's head and knocked something to the ground behind him in the hallway.

"I'll have Cloud ask Sephiroth for your number," Zack called, getting on his bike. "He won't shut up about the guy...I've gotta meet him and make sure he's okay." He winked, blew Genesis a playful kiss and pedaled away.

Genesis walked back inside, a spring in his step. Everything had worked out alright—who would have thought?

Thank the Goddess he got the paper!


	4. Barbecued Refrigerators AZ ASGZC

**This is for the lovely Karyukai. Happy Birthday! We sort of both made each other like AngealZack, so... here's some Zangeal. This was new, but really fun. The last one is rather ASGZC-flavored. These vary among different degrees of cheesiness, lol. These are the prompts: Barbecue, Digital, Danger, Compulsion, Waking, and Refrigeration. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Barbecue**

Zack loved summer in Midgar the most. That wasn't to say that he didn't enjoy all the other seasons in Midgar, because he did. Summer, however, was on an entire new level.

It wasn't just because the weather reminded him of Gongaga, of touch-me toads and sticky, humid jungle air. It wasn't just because he could chill at the beach and charm all the girls wearing bikinis. It wasn't even because he got more days off and could spend his time doing whatever he wanted instead of being inside doing paperwork or away on missions.

No, summer was Zack's favorite season because of one thing—the _barbecue._

To be honest, Zack had never been much of a meat-eater. That usually surprised people; they seemed to think he was one of those guys who could scarf down forty wings, then find some date who seemed to like buffalo-sauce breath. Nah, it was quite the opposite. His mom was a vegetarian back at home, so he had grown up loving vegetables, fruits and the like.

But when summer rolled around, Zack was an all-out carnivore. He didn't even like scrapple or brisket or whatever the hell he was shoving into his mouth that much; he ate it, however, because all the meat and food and fun was to be had at a barbecue—a party—at someone's house. Zack may have not enjoyed ribs and burgers as much as the next guy, but he certainly did love to party.

"Hi Zack!" Cloud chirped when he passed by. This was Tseng's annual barbecue he threw for the Turks and many high-ranking SOLDIERs (and Cloud Strife, because Sephiroth refused to attend if Cloud hadn't been able to go with him). The man owned a house, not an apartment, and as such was forced to throw several parties throughout the year.

"Spike!" Zack greeted cheerfully, reaching out and ruffling the teen's hair. They were being pushed on all sides by busy, cheerful people and stepped a bit closer so they wouldn't be separated. "How you doin'?"

Cloud waited until he had swallowed his corn and sucked anything out of his teeth before responding, waving his cob around. "Great. Sephiroth and some Turk guy got into a fight a few minutes ago, though. That's why I'm in here."

Zack laughed. "Over what?"

"Not sure. I think it was about watermelon seeds or something. I should go back... you want me to grab you anything to eat?"

"Nah, I'm good." Zack lightly punched Cloud's shoulder. "See ya."

Cloud grinned and scurried off, grabbing another corn on the cob on his way out the door. Zack turned in place, scanning the house. He could see Reno, drunk already and Kunsel discreetly filming Reno be drunk already, but not who he was looking for. He stood on tiptoes and spotted the back patio, making a beeline for the door. He waved and high-fived a few of his friends on his way out.

Zack grinned widely once he walked outside. The air was hot (but still nothing compared to Gongaga), and there were a few people in bathing suits trying to fit into a blow-up pool on the grass outside, but Zack had eyes only for the tall man by the grill, studiously flipping burgers.

He held his breath and quietly inched toward him, then slipped his arms around the man's waist and pressed against his back. Zack stood on his toes again and kissed his ear, which was bent at a weird angle and sticking out like an elf's.

This was the real reason he loved summer. In summer, there were barbecues. At barbecues, there was always Angeal grilling everyone's food in a white apron and a little chef's hat that Zack thought was the most adorable thing in the whole world.

"You're here," Angeal said, sounding pleased. He turned his head and gave Zack a quick kiss, not stopping his flipping of huge links of sausage.

Zack found something about Angeal cooking meat incredibly sexy. He'd never say it. "Just got here," he responded, letting go and circling around in front of the grill. The apron was almost too small for Angeal's broad chest and looked uncomfortably tight. Angeal always said it was fine, though, and worth it because it wasn't honorable to get stuff all over the SOLDIER uniform. Yeah, whatever.

The hat on his head was a bit crooked and fell to his ears, making them stick out to the sides. His bangs were haphazardly pushed to one side underneath it, and standing over the heat of the grill for so long had made his cheeks flush a pretty shade of red. Angeal would kill him, but... "You're so cute," Zack gushed, waggling his fingers.

Angeal have him an unamused look and thrust a plate with a cheeseburger on it at him. "Go eat. Scram."

Zack laughed and ventured around the grill again, stopping for one last kiss before walking off to make sure Genesis hadn't killed anybody. Someone walked by him, praising Angeal and his grilling to the lifestream and back. Zack took a bite of his food, considered, and thought it tasted good. He'd probably only have one, though. Angeal really had turned him into a meat-eater. In more ways than one.

Sephiroth's hair was streaked red with watermelon outside, and a Turk was frantically being Cured by his friends. Genesis was spraying everyone with Tseng's hose, and Tseng was bustling around, looking frazzled.

Yup. He definitely loved summer.

* * *

**Digital**

Angeal was a very 'hip and happening' man, so to speak. He was 'cool.' He may have been wiser than his years but he was still very young. Twenty-five wasn't so old, not at all. He was still keeping up with popular music... sort of, and he knew all the recent dance crazes... sort of. Everything he owned was state of the art and up to date. Sort of.

For his long, unwavering and faithful employment in the company, Lazard upgraded his PHS one day, in honor of his anniversary of service to the Shin-Ra. Angeal had thanked him and confidently looked down at the device on his way back home, only to stop cold in the hallway.

This thing had a touch screen. Numerous buttons. Jacks and ports for things he had no idea whatsoever. Bright, neon colored buttons.

Technology these days.

Panicking, Angeal went to the most technologically-advanced guy he knew. Zack was always texting Cloud and going on about websites and _social networking _and who knew what else. Angeal knew about military technology and what was necessary to complete his job, and that was about it. It was a good thing Zack was always willing to help.

"It can take pictures?" Angeal marveled.

Zack gave him a flat look, seated next to him on their couch. "Your last one could too."

"...Oh."

Zack pointed to all the little ports and told them what they were for. He taught him how to text, how to access the Shin-Ra database from anywhere, and how to program a nifty—kids said that nowadays, didn't they? "nifty?"—ringtone for all his close friends.

When Zack finished, Angeal felt very accomplished. He kissed the Second's forehead and held the PHS out, turning it around. They smiled, he pressed the button Zack had told him to press, and it flashed. The picture became his 'wallpaper.' He liked to look down at it when he was working, at he and Zack, happy like that.

Although Angeal was a very snazzy, trendy, swell young man, he quickly lost interest in things. After that first exploration of his new PHS with Zack, he didn't use any of its new features again. He used it like he had his last—he occasionally called his friends and received calls from Lazard. One time he sent a text to Zack, but it had taken him at _least _ten minutes because his fingers were too big for the tiny buttons and he kept messing up. He wasn't too thrilled at the idea of doing that again.

In fact, Angeal didn't pay much attention to his PHS at all. He preferred to talk to people in person and communicated to his mother through written letters. Somehow, his PHS went missing for about a week; he obviously didn't pay enough attention to it. He found it eventually though under his pillow at home; he could have sworn he had checked there, but whatever.

Genesis had been lounging in his office one day, hiding from his own office and the paperwork that waited for him there. He had swiped Angeal's PHS and was fiddling with it—he wasn't due for an upgrade for another month.

"Woah," Genesis gasped quietly, and Angeal didn't pay much attention to it. He squinted, typing with the tips of two of his fingers. He had just never gotten the hang of typing. There weren't computers in Banora, so he had an excuse. Right? He was still very much a _groovy_ guy though, honestly!

Genesis' loud laughter made him look away from his desktop. The redhead was clutching his stomach, doubled over the edge of the chair, looking like he was dying. "The...Puppy," Genesis wheezed.

Alarmed, Angeal snatched the PHS away. He frowned at the screen, then flipped it over, because he had accidentally looked at it upside-down. On the screen was a picture of him... sleeping. Zack had probably taken it at some point.

"What's so funny?"

"There's more," Genesis sniffed, trying to calm down.

Angeal tried to remember how to scroll through pictures. He cautiously put his thumb on the touch screen's surface and flicked it to the left. He moved to another picture... another one of him sleeping.

Then another. Then _another_. Then there was a picture of him eating dinner. Drinking out of a water bottle. Watering his plants. Brushing his teeth. In...the shower? Angeal gaped at his naked, unaware self. There was another of him in the shower, and—

Angeal recoiled from the device, blushing horribly. He kicked Genesis in the shin, who was laughing again. There was one of him _clearly_ giving Zack a blowjob—how? _How?_

His PHS had been missing for that week... he had thought he had simply misplaced it, but perhaps not. Angeal cycled through all the pictures—all one hundred and nineteen of them—and realized something.

He may not have been a very up to date, hunky-dory, swag-filled fellow. He was awful with technology, and he knew it. But, that didn't really matter, not when he had Zack Fair, the coolest SOLDIER around—even if he was kind of a creep.

* * *

**Danger**

He both hated and loved when Angeal got like this.

Hated, because it was scary. Hated, because it took an awful lot to get this far.

Loved, because it was exhilarating. Loved, because it was so worth it.

He had woken up in a particularly naughty mood. All day he had been doing little things to annoy Angeal, but not in a pissed-off sort of way, because that was just _bad_. He had refused to let Angeal go to work that morning, wrapping all four limbs around Angeal's body and dragging him back to bed with wet, half-asleep kisses. Zack pestered him with texts all day. He visited while Angeal was out and messed up his office, hiding all his pens and switching the completed paperwork with the still unfinished stack.

He even sent Cloud in there at one point with a long, rambling note from Zack, saying there were things they had to talk about, and how Zack just wasn't sure how he was going to say it, but... Angeal had to stop leaving his toothbrush on the side of the sink. Among other things.

All day he had been evilly gleeful, imagining Angeal's face as he discovered the various moldy things he had put in his lunchbox instead of his usual lunch. He had Genesis rave about a supposed huge, ugly scratch on the Buster Sword, which ended up being "just his imagination."

It had all been in good fun, but... now he was regretting it. A lot.

Zack was frozen in the door to the apartment. The door was still open, and he considered inching back out. It probably wouldn't work. The whole place reeked of _danger_. Angeal was here, somewhere. Waiting for him. And he probably wasn't happy.

Zack's nostrils flared with excitement and he closed the door, looking left and right. With luck, he could make it to the kitchen...

He went for it. Zack darted through the apartment as fast as he could, but he never made it. Halfway there something slammed into his back and he tumbled to the floor. He hit it hard, all his breath leaving his body.

"Agh-!" Zack grunted, hissing when his arm was jerked behind his back.

"You," came Angeal's voice, deep and right into his ear, "Are a brat."

Zack laughed at that and bucked his whole body; Angeal was thrown off, but he suspected it was on purpose. He ran for a room, any room, but in the doorway of their bedroom he was tripped and skidded a few feet on the carpet by his face, then somersaulted over himself and landed with his feet on their bed, peering at Angeal upside-down.

Angeal was terrifying when he got like this. The man was always _so_ careful and tender with him and worried so much; he had a huge heart. He enjoyed this Angeal though, who was playful and predatory and who, on the surface, didn't give two shits about what Zack wanted or not. Of course, Angeal was always that cuddly, warm softy that Zack loved so much, but this was...different. Exciting.

His boyfriend's face appeared over his, smirking. Zack whole body trembled, both with fear and anticipation. He both loved and hated this rare, scary-Angeal... but he had a feeling he'd love it this time. Definitely.

* * *

**Compulsion**

Zack wasn't known for his patience. He did everything when it felt right. He did what he had to.

Sometimes that got him in trouble (quite often, actually), but most of the time it was a good thing. He didn't beat about the bush. He just did it, whatever it was.

Angeal made him act unlike himself. Usually Zack wasted no time when he liked someone. He'd tell them, or they'd tell him, and that was that. This time, though, things were different. Angeal wasn't some random person—he was _Angeal_, his mentor, and his friend. Something kept him back.

For a long while Zack tried to move on. It was pointless having the hots for your teacher, even if he _did_ have a great body, a fantastic personality and a little beard at the end of his chin that looked like it would be super fun to play with. It just wouldn't work, so he dated some other people. It didn't work.

Zack tried to keep hush about it. He trained with the man nearly every day, still went on missions with him, still hung out and did all sorts of things. Zack never (he hoped) dropped any hints about his desperate crush. Zack Fair was quiet, for once in his life.

But, it was hard. Very hard. It just wasn't in his personality to be this way—it physically _hurt_ seeing Angeal every day with this huge secret inside him. He almost wanted to just scream it out; even if Angeal said no, he surely couldn't feel any worse than he did now? He knew Sephiroth had been keeping quiet about his feelings for Genesis for _years_. Years! He couldn't do that, no way.

It seemed, at first, that he'd at least try. Zack acted like the man's friend and student, nothing more. Years? He totally could do it.

"Zack."

"Huh?"

Angeal smiled at him, eyes glinting in the pinkish light from the setting sun. Zack smiled sheepishly and looked out over the ocean as Angeal repeated himself. "I said, would you rather take out the resistance forces with B Unit, or would you rather we went ahead by ourselves? We'll have to scout out the..."

Zack wasn't paying any attention. The Mideel weather was fantastic at this time of year. The sun was just right and he and Angeal were away from everyone else, feet dangling off a rock into the sea. He had been exceptionally quiet about this entire thing—but something about the moment was too much. His stomach felt tight and he felt hot, like he was going to burst out of his skin.

He had to act—he was going to go crazy if he didn't.

Zack cut off Angeal mid-sentence. He slowly leaned in and kissed him, just like that. Not for long, of course; he scooted back to his previous seat and watched Angeal with wary eyes.

Angeal stared at him with his lips parted, completely still. He shook his head a little and finished his sentence, "... then we'll need the assistance of B Unit regardless. You just kissed me."

"...Yeah."

Angeal looked confused and still disbelieving, so Zack drew his feet out of the water and sat cross-legged, facing his mentor. "I like you," he said simply. "I thought it felt right."

The older man looked at him for a long moment, then slowly exhaled. He reached out, and Zack grinned and went to him, accepted.

If there was one thing Zack Fair was good at, it was following his instincts. He should have listened to himself a long time ago! If he had, he would have been able to distract Angeal to the point where he could push him into the ocean and dive in after him, laughing, a whooole lot sooner.

* * *

**Waking**

Waking up was always interesting. Angeal was, thankfully, not a very exciting sleeper. He laid down and could fall asleep (when he wasn't being haunted by the images of battle) in a matter of minutes. He didn't thrash in his sleep or wake up to use the bathroom or anything like that. He woke up easily; he was a morning person and never had any trouble getting up. He had tame dreams, for the most part. He had considered himself lucky.

Then Zack had come along.

The teen seemed to alternate between the two extremes of _I never want to sleep again _and _Fuck you—I'm going to sleep and there is nothing you can do about it._

Angeal was both amused and horrified by Zack's nighttime behavior.

Sometimes he would stay up until the early hours of the morning watching television, talking to friends and eating all his food. Sometimes he would go to sleep before Angeal did. Zack would mumble in his sleep. He'd wake up at the smallest noises and somehow manage to sleep through an explosion (which had actually happened once, when Genesis was in the kitchen). He'd hog blankets, kick Angeal in the back and force him off the bed and onto the floor, and he would violently roll over in bed and elbow Angeal in the jaw.

In the morning, Angeal would wake and survey that night's damage. He'd see a foot or two sticking out the top while his head was down at the foot of the bed. He might wake up with no blankets on him at all, and find them all on the floor by Zack's side of the bed. Once he had woken up to find Zack asleep_ underneath_ the bed. Neither of them knew how that had happened.

It was, quite honestly, a hassle and a lot of stress. But, there were times when Zack would curl into his chest like he belonged there and fall asleep with Angeal's name on his lips—times like those made Angeal realize that despite Zack's bedtime _eccentricities _he wouldn't want any other person in his bed at all.

Plus, some of these pictures made some really good blackmail.

* * *

**Refrigeration**

"I'm going to die!" Zack wailed. He summoned up the last of his strength and kicked at the wall with all his might for the umpteenth time. For the umpteenth time, nothing happened.

Zack had killed monsters. He had gone on super top-secret, dangerous missions. He had fought to the death. He had broken bones and been shot and cut up by random monsters all over the world. He was SOLDIER.

What a place to die, though—one of the Shin-Ra cafeteria freezers!

It was kind of his fault. He had been up late in his office doing paperwork (yes, for once he seriously had. ...Actually, he had been playing games on his computer, and had lost track of time). Anyway, he had suddenly been craving ice cream. Everything out in sector 8 would be closed, and he had none at home. So, feeling slightly naughty, he had decided to sneak into the kitchens. Genesis did it all the time. Nothing to worry about.

He had entered the freezer, immediately going to the back and looking for the tubs of ice cream that he knew were around somewhere.

Then the door shut.

He was locked in.

"Heeeeelp!" Zack cried. His breath was puffing out in front of his face, and he was beginning to shiver. SOLDIERs could withstand a hell of a lot, but what if he was trapped in here for _days_? He'd die. He'd be _dead_.

Ohhhh shit.

He had tried beating on the door. It wouldn't give. If he had materia on him he'd blast his way out, but he didn't. If worst came to worst, he could eat frozen, pre-packaged lasagna and rock-hard broccoli, but that wouldn't keep him alive forever.

The worst part was, there wasn't even any ice cream in this freezer.

Zack paced around for a while, occasionally managing a weak holler for help. Then he sat down against the far wall, feeling the chill through the back of his uniform top. "Bye Angeal," he whispered into his knees. "Bye Cloud. Bye Aerith. Don't miss me too much."

He, of course, had no intention of dying right now, but it felt appropriate.

Zack miserably sat for a while, growing colder and colder. That frozen broccoli was starting to sound appealing; when Zack found himself staring hungrily at its box he knew he was starting to lose his mind.

Zack fell over with a dull thud. Everything was cold. His toes hurt, he couldn't move his fingers, and his thigh hurt especially bad. Ow. ...What was that?

He sat up and let out a happy sound when he realized it was his PHS digging into his leg. Duh! He dialed Angeal's number with unresponsive fingers; it took a few tries but then he heard the dial tone.

"...He'o?" Angeal murmured, sounding very much asleep.

"Angeal!" Zack burst, feeling himself filled with energy at the sound of his mentor's voice. "I'm stuck in the freezer!"

Angeal didn't say anything for a moment. Zack heard shuffling, and then a sigh. "What?"

"I'm stuck in one of the freezers," Zack repeated, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I need you to come get me out."

He heard a series of sighs. Angeal was getting out of bed. "Which one?" He didn't sound very happy.

"The one by the long row of sinks. Thanks 'Geal, I really appreci—"

Click.

Well then. Zack slipped his PHS back into his pocket and stood. He spread his legs and began doing squats in the middle of the freezer in an effort to stay warm. He had certainly learned his lesson. Always go out for ice cream.

The First's footsteps echoed in the silent kitchen. Zack screamed, "Angeal! In here!"

"Shut up." The door opened, and with it, a stream of warm air. Angeal walked in in his sleepwear—a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Zack opened his arms, and even though Angeal was annoyed he walked into them, squeezing the younger SOLDIER. Angeal was fantastically warm, and Zack buried his chilly face into the man's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Angeal softly asked, running his hands over Zack's body to check for injuries or frostbite.

"Fine. It's really not so..." He trailed off, and they both jumped at the sound of the freezer door closing with a loud, finite _bang_.

"Shit," Zack cursed. Angeal said nothing, keeping his face hidden in Zack's hair.

"Don't tell me that door just shut."

"...It did, Angeal."

"Shit," Angeal agreed. He sighed, cracked an eye open to glance at the door and then held out his hand. "Give me your PHS. We'll have to call Genesis."

Zack handed it over and listened to Angeal's one-sided conversation, keeping his arms firmly locked around the man's waist. "Hey, Gen," he said, sounding tired. "I need to you do me a favor. No, not that kind of favor. Zack and I are locked in one of the freezers... uh, long story. Can you come get us out? ...Fine. Whatever you want. Thanks. Bye."

The older man sighed, handing back the PHS, and Zack pocketed it with a laugh.

"You know," he whispered, hooking his arms around Angeal's neck. "We could totally die in here if we get too cold." He placed a few kisses to Angeal's neck and jaw, whatever he could reach. "We should warm each other up while we wait for Genesis to get here."

Angeal, though, was clearly not in the mood, and he tugged on Zack's hair. Zack pouted but followed when Angeal sat against the very wall he had before. Zack sat beside him and they curled up together.

It was much nicer having someone trapped inside with you, Zack decided as Angeal's warm hand repeatedly ran up and down his chilly arm. He rested his head against the man's shoulder and sighed.

"How'd you get stuck in here in the first place?" Angeal asked. He brushed some of the spikes away from Zack's forehead.

The answer was hesitant, because he'd probably get an "honor" speech. "Uh. I wanted some ice cream."

"Zack..."

"I was gonna pay for it!" Zack lied, "leave some Gil on the counter..."

"Sure you were."

"I totally was," Zack grumbled. Angeal's hand found his.

Eventually they heard more footsteps echo in the big kitchen. "Genesis!" Zack hollered. "Angeal and I are in here!"

The door swung open after a minute and Genesis strode inside, looking furious. The two on the floor shrank down as Genesis towered over them in a bathrobe and slippers. He pointed at his face. "I need beauty sleep," he growled. "You wake me up because you're _stuck in a freezer_? How did you even—"

"No!" Angeal shouted, springing to his feet.

It was too late; the freezer door shut for the third time. Zack and Angeal stared, dumbfounded at it. Genesis' whole body went rigid and he wailed, "I hate the cold!"

Angeal just sighed. "PHS, Zack."

"...Yeah."

Genesis took to kicking the door with his slippered feet while Angeal called Sephiroth, sinking back down to his previous place against the wall.

"Sorry to bother you, Seph," Angeal said, sounding exasperated, "But Genesis, Zack and I are trapped in a freezer in the kitchens. Could you come get us out?" Something Sephiroth said made Angeal laugh, and he hung up.

"Give it up," Zack said tiredly at Genesis, who was trying to cast fireballs despite the lack of a fire materia. He held out his arms. "Come sit with us."

The three men huddled together on the ground, trying to keep warm while they waited for Sephiroth. They kept up a running commentary about Costa Del Sol, hot coffee and warm blankets. It was working, a little bit.

Sephiroth opened the heavy door in nothing but black sleep pants. He looked amused. "Whose fault is this?"

"Zack's," Angeal and Genesis both said immediately.

"Hey! I wasn't the one who was all, 'I need sleep' and let the door shut!"

"Shush your puppy, Angeal."

"I'll shush both of you in a minute," Angeal grunted, climbing to his feet. He smiled at Sephiroth.

Zack whined, still sitting, "I can't get up. I'm frozen."

Sephiroth strode forward to help pull Zack to his feet, and Angeal and Genesis both let out a yell. The door shut behind the General. They were locked in, for the fourth time.

"Fuck it," Zack growled. "Anyone want broccoli?"

~:D :D :D :D :D~

Cloud's original plan was to get up about an hour earlier than normal, so he could go for a jog before breakfast. Everything was quiet at four in the morning, and Cloud crept out of his dorm, fishing his PHS out of his pocket. He checked for any messages on his way down to the track—and he stopped short before he had even gotten to the end of his hallway. Thirty seven missed calls from Zack?

He dialed the number, worry making his stomach flip. It took a few rings, but he heard an answer.

"It's Cloud!" Zack cried into the PHS. He sounded drunk. He heard a bunch of excited yelling. Was Zack at some sort of party...?

"Zack? Are you okay? What's up?"

"I'm trapped in the freezer! Have been allllll night. And now I'm sick from the lasagna, dude."

Cloud frowned. "Uh, what?"

He heard a bunch of loud shuffling sounds, and then Commander Hewley's voice came through. "We're locked in a freezer on the third floor kitchens. Would you come get us out? Please?" he sounded desperate.

Cloud jumped. "Yessir! Right away, Sir! I'm on my way right now!"

More delirious cheering, and then the call ended. Cloud darted back to his room, dropped off his running stuff because it would just be a hindrance, then bolted for the stairs. He worried the entire way there, hoping no one was hurt. How long had they been in there?

He reached the kitchen and was guided by Zack's voice to the right freezer. He gripped the handle and leaned back, grunting as it took nearly all his effort to open the door.

"DON'T MOVE!" came a chorus of voices, and Cloud froze, not moving an inch, keeping the door open with his arm. He gaped as Zack, Angeal, Commander Rhapsodos and General Sephiroth trooped out, all out of uniform and dressed in nightclothes.

Cloud squawked as Genesis picked him up and spun him around in circles, saying, "Thank the Goddess!" The man gave him a big kiss right there in front of everyone, then dropped him. Cloud got a grateful smooch either on the lips or the cheek from all three, then watched, dazed, as everyone almost literally ran out of the kitchen.

...Well then. Cloud should wake up earlier more often.


End file.
